A pair of congresswomen will soon be reintroducing a bill to federally decriminalize all currently illicit drugs and facilitate mass expungements.
Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO) announced on Saturday—the 52nd anniversary of President Richard Nixon declaring a war on drugs—that they will again be filing the Drug Policy Reform Act.
The lawmakers first introduced the bill in 2021. While it didn’t advance, it marked the first congressional bill designed to comprehensively end drug criminalization and take a public health, rather than criminal justice, approach to substance use.
“52 years ago, President Richard Nixon initiated a violent, racist campaign against Black and brown communities in this country,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “From the start, the War on Drugs has been about suppressing the voices and lives of the marginalized, not about health or safety.”
#OTD 52 y.o. Nixon declared the “war on drugs.”
It was never about health or safety but about suppressing the voices and lives of the marginalized.@RepCori and I will be reintroducing the Drug Policy Reform Act to end the W.O.D. and treat people with a health centered approach https://t.co/S31o18P8TV
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) June 17, 2023
“Unfortunately, our
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